History 104: Introduction to American History Since 1865: What are Primary Sources

How to identify primary sources

Primary sources are contemporary accounts of an event, written by someone who experienced or witnessed the event in question.

Primary sources include:

diaries, letters, memoirs, autobiographies, journals, speeches, manuscripts, interviews, cartoons, advertisements, newspaper or magazine articles written at the time of or soon after the fact, photographs, audio or video recordings, movies, research reports in the natural or social sciences, documents of organizations, goverment documents, opinion polls, original literary works or fiction, original theatrical works, and original works of art.

Heritage Resources at Western Washington

The Heritage Resources unit provides for responsible stewardship of and access to unique and archival resources in support of teaching, learning and research at Western Washington University and beyond. The Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Special Collections, and WWU Archives and Records Center work together to document the culture and history of Western, the local community and Pacific Northwest region, and to promote public and scholarly access to holdings.